The Low Road – Creative Change as a Lifestyle

by Royd Brayshay on February 12, 2010

Part two of Stuart Brands six part BBC series (and book) entitled “How Buildings Learn” points out how cheap “low road” buildings house creative people all over the world. They attract creative inhabitants purely because they are cheap and adaptable. Brand offers an alternate view of modern architecture that can be applied to other fields of design including software.

Modularity, extensibility and rich integration API’s and all desirable software traits. They provide an answer to adaptability and change in modern software applications. On the other hand “Low Road” to me has a more subtle meaning surrounding individual technology. It feels analogous to intermediate technology as used in developing countries or the related to the reason REST is gaining traction over SOAP outside the enterprise. Low Road technology to me should be easily grasped and accessible with common tools and understanding; in the same way when applied to buildings the construction techniques are largely low tech. and traditional. Parts three to six will follow in upcoming posts.